


Reflections

by Ahigheroctave



Category: Glee
Genre: 5 Things, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2012-11-01
Packaged: 2017-11-17 13:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahigheroctave/pseuds/Ahigheroctave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 things that never happened after Duets, but should have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> This could be considered AU but it also doesn't interfere in any way with canon, so make of it what you wish.

> “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”  
> -Thomas Merton

They’re walking out of Breadsticks, when she notices a familiar face at the back of the restaurant. A blond in a red cheerleading uniform sits, head propped against her hand, staring at food on her plate as she moves it around. A waiter hovers nervously about, eyeing her. It’s late and he’s probably looking to clear her table so he can go home for the night.

  
Quinn smiles at Sam, thanks him for a lovely evening. He says something in Na’vi so long, she can’t even begin to decipher it. She doesn’t pretend to try either, she just gives her best hair toss and walks away from him with the same determined step she uses to rule the hallways of their high school. She still isn’t sure of a lot of things (his hair color, the fact that he’s straight, if she really likes him), but she figures at the very least she’s gotten two free dinners out of their friendship or whatever it is. It’s nice to have the option of it going nowhere, when the only two other boys she’s been involved with before were so serious due to her situation alone.

  
She slides into the booth opposite the lean blonde and pulls a breadstick from the jar on the table, “Hey Brit.” She crunches very loudly on her food, shooting a warning glance at the nosy waiter. “Where’s Santana?”

  
Brittany doesn’t look up from her food, “I don’t know.” 

She processes this for a minute. Then she has an awful thought, this place isn’t too far from the mall. It’s possible that Brittany wandered off, following something shiny, and Santana is desperately worried about her. It’s happened before, on a field trip to the zoo, both in 4th grade and last year. In 4th grade Brittany got lost in the gift shop, last year she drove to the wrong zoo. “Did you get lost again? Are you supposed to be somewhere else?” 

She shakes her head, “My mom dropped me off. She’s coming back at 11 to pick me up, she’s took away my car after I got lost in the sewers and I had to make friends with the rats to survive.” 

Quinn nods slowly, then stands up, “Well, I’ll see you later.” She starts to put her jacket on, when she feels a light touch on her shoulder. 

“Can you stay with me?” She doesn’t answer, just sits back down. Brittany starts to actually eat, just little pieces of breadsticks, then some noodles. Quinn nudges her meatball with a fork, and she picks that up and eats it too. It’s rare to see her put so much away in one sitting, usually it’s all Sue Sylvester’s master cleanse and worrying about how she looks naked. 

She eats until there’s one piece of spaghetti left on the plate and then she stares at it forlornly like she might burst into tears. “What?” Brittany shakes her head and pushes the plate away. “Brit, just finish it then I’ll drive you home.” 

“But there’s no-one to meet me in the middle like in Lady and the Tramp,” Her big brown eyes bore into Quinn’s and she feels inherently guilty for being so happy. “I wanted Artie to come with me so he and I could…I wanted him to be the Tramp, Quinn.” 

Her breathe catches in her throat, and she chokes back the sadness, “Maybe you were too late.” 

“But how? I helped him, I took his virginity. Santana said that if you take that, a guy owes you forever. She said that’s why Puck was her property, because she popped his cherry. Even though I really don’t get what squishing fruit has to do with sex.” The thing is, Quinn tries as hard as she can to stay emotionally disconnected from the world because when she allowed herself to feel, she ended up pregnant and alone, but she can never quite keep Brittany at the same arm’s length as everyone else. It would be equivalent to kicking a puppy. 

“Sex doesn’t get you love, Brit, and it doesn’t make you the first person in someone else’s world either.” Brittany stares down at the plate in front of her, “Artie loves Tina. Not because of sex, but because of who she is. And someday, you’re going to find someone who will love you like that too.” 

“Someone who will play Lady and the Tramp with me?” Brittany’s face lights up. 

“Of course.”

:...:

Rachel’s dads make them dinner. It isn’t exactly Breadsticks, but it’s nothing to complain about either. Kurt dresses Finn especially for the occasion, and they show up at the doorstep with a tin of cookies Carole made for Rachel with soy milk. Rachel squeals and throws her arms around Finn, before pulling Kurt into the hug. He can’t help but smile even though she’s babbling on about how after dinner they can watch the remake of Hairspray and it is a truly atrocious movie. 

They help set the table before dinner and have an argument about which role Julie Andrews was best in. 

“I liked Mary Poppins,” Finn smiles goofily. The other two share a look behind his back, silently agreeing that he is a musical amateur and that the only reason he even knew of this was because it was standard Disney fare that all small children were exposed to. 

“The Sound of Music is clearly superior not only all of her other roles, but also any other musical, probably even any movie to date,” Kurt states, while deftly folding their ivory napkins (what a horrible choice for their navy tablecloth, he might add) into swans. “Maria is clearly the best she will ever do, especially after the unfortunate choice of Audrey Hepburn over her to play Eliza Doolittle.” 

“I agree, that was a true tragedy. Especially given that they had to dub in all of Eliza’s tracks because Audrey couldn’t sing. However, you can’t entirely look over that Mary Poppins is great in it’s own right. She just plays a far different character, and her chemistry with Dick Van Dyke was much more comically written than hers with Christopher Plummer.” 

“And Dick Van Dyke was a better opposing lead, his comedy was perfect in every way, and his cockney accent is excellent, played up at all the right parts. Where as Christopher Plummer resented the Sound of Music and was embarrassed to play a part in one of the greatest films of all times, and all he had to do for it was stand there and look pretty while Julie did all the real work. It is tragic that there never was a kiss in Mary Poppins, she and Bert were so evenly matched and witty.”

“You you have to give him credit for Edelweiss, Kurt." Finn is stoked to bring up something they didn't think of about musical theatre, usually he has nothing to contribute to these conversations.

Kurt and Rachel share a look and he starts to feel a lot less sure of his choice of words. "Well, of course he didn't actually sing Edelweiss, but I assume the average movie watcher wouldn't know that." He looks accusingly at Rachel.

"Well, I've never watched it _with_ him," She huffs defensively, "As if I would leave out such a major detail of musical history as that."  
  
Finn stares at them for a minute before turning into the kitchen, “Mr. B, do you have anymore of those crab cakes?”

:...:

To say Mercedes is surprised when she meets Santana in her driveway on her way over to Rachel’s would be the understatement of the century. Although, it’s not nearly as surprising as what comes out of her mouth when she spots Mercedes.

  
“Get in, bitch, we’re going to a party.” She pushes the passenger side door of her Mustang open and pats the seat. 

Mercedes stands there with her mouth open for a minute, suspended in disbelief before she starts in. First she looks around for hidden cameras, just to make sure though. “I’m sorry, when did hell freeze over?” 

Santana rolls her eyes, “God, what are you, four? Seriously, you're going to pass up an offer to going to what may be the only cool party of your existence just because of Puckerman?” She flips her hair over her shoulder and shoots the dark-skinned girl a look, “I severely underestimated your ability to be anything close to a top bitch, clearly.” 

They stare each other down for a few minutes, neither one willing to give at all. Santana crosses her arms over her chest, Mercedes puts her hands on their hips. They don’t blink at all costs. Finally, Mercedes brings in the heavy artillery, “Where’s Brittany? She finally get sick of your skinny ass?” Santana can’t help it, she winces before she even has the chance to think about it. Mercedes raises an eyebrow at her, “So that’s the real reason you need me to go, you need a sidekick. Well, sorry, but I don’t side with people who are trying to bring down my best friend.” She turns on her heel and heads into her driveway where her hand-me-down Taurus Wagon is parked, green paint flaking on the side. 

“Listen, I’m not asking you to join my crusade to bring down Teen Mom, I just need someone to drive me home and then make me pancakes after I get wasted and hook-up with whatever guy looks the cutest after a couple of shots of tequila.” She turns around, Santana isn’t looking at her but focusing very intently on the steering wheel. “You don’t even have to make them from scratch,” She whispers to it. “Brit always used the mix because she had trouble remembering the difference between the tablespoon and the teaspoon.” 

Mercedes isn’t an inherently selfless person. It’s a secret she manages to keep because she’s can use her race and her sass as a defense mechanism, but she’s the baby of her family, she likes getting what she wants. Still, she can’t stop herself from walking up to the red car and getting in the side door. “One night,” She tells her. “That’s it, and I’m not making you any pancakes.” 

They stay at the party for an hour-and-a-half, long enough for Santana to de-virginize one of the Freshman hockey players and for a cute senior to teach Mercedes how to play beer pong (she kicks his ass at it, he ends up very drunk).

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy driving the Mustang, top down, at midnight while a slowly sobering Santana screamed the lyrics to Bad Touch in the back seat. She’d also deny every making those chocolate chip pancakes.

:...:

He picks her up at eight and blindfolds her. Her mother gives him a look before reminding him, “I’m expecting you to act like a nice Asian boy with my daughter, Michael.” 

He drives around town a while, just to confuse her and because it’s fun to watch her squirm. She’s very impatient to get to her surprise and she vocalizes, “Are we going to Breadsticks? We aren’t going to Dim Sum again are we? I don’t want to go to the Chinese place at the mall either, the creepy sample guy is always staring at me like I’m an alien or something.” 

“Actually, I think he was just staring at your chest.” 

“Shut up, he was not. He was _not_.” She practically squeals with pride though, and he watches her purple-painted lips flare into a smile. 

“He was too, and we’re here.” He runs to open her door and takes her hand to lead her across the parking lot, before resting a hand on either side of her bandana. “Now, I know it’s not breadsticks, but I hope you like it.” He pulls on the red fabric and lets it fall to the ground. 

Her eyes shoot open and looks up at the building. It reminds him of a little kid on Christmas morning, the look of awe and excitement, and he can’t help but match her smile. “The 99,” She breathes, and proceeds to throw her arms around him. “I love it so much, Mike. You have no idea.” 

He presses his head against hers, taking in the flowery smell of her hair. “I wanted you to be able to get a salad without chicken feet.”

:...:

He’s sitting on the cot in his cell, which he shares with some kid from Carmel High who’s been selling steroids to kids in Vocal Adrenaline. An unfortunate coincidence that he can’t wait to get out and tell his friends, if they’ll even speak to him after this. Let alone Quinn, who won’t even lower herself enough to look at the drunken moron who thought he could steal the ATM from the Hess station. He’s wondering what they’re doing right now, if they miss him like he misses them. He imagines them and their group number of the week, with his luck they probably decided to do something bad ass like Livin’ On a Prayer or Clapton. And if Finn gets the lead on an Aerosmith song, he might have to kill him. 

He hears the door creak open behind him and sees one of the guards standing there, “Where’s the fire?” 

“Don’t be a smart ass, Puckerman,” The guard glares at him. “You’ve got a phone call.” 

“What?” They only get one call a day, right after dinner. Tonight he called Quinn, who hung up the phone as soon as she heard his voice. 

“It’s a friend of yours, he’s got a legitimate emergency, now let’s go.” Puck follows him down the hall, wondering what the hell could have happened that could be considered an emergency. He wonders if something happened to his sister, to his mom, to Quinn, he wonders if Finn’s stupidity finally got the best of him. Finally the guard thrusts the phone in his hand and goes to stand a little down the hall. “Hello?” 

“Hey dude,” Artie’s voice fills his ears. He marvels that he’s sunken so low on the food chain that the same kid he tried to port-a-potty last year is now the only one willing to speak to him. “How you doing?” 

“Okay,” He says slowly, then he waits nothing. “What’s going on? Everybody okay?” 

“Oh yeah, I told the guard I need to inform you that I’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.” He can’t help but smirk at how much of a bad ass move that was. “Didn’t exactly lie.” 

“Yeah, man, it works. What’s going on the outside?” He can’t hide the eager tone in his voice. He’s dying to know if he missed Radiohead week or whether Quinn has killed Santana yet or if that Sunshine girl decided to come back. 

“We did Duets this week.” They do that every week, or at least Finn and Rachel choose some song to angst over while shooting each other desperate looks about their not so secret love. They’re a lot more predictable than they think they are. “Kind of like the Defying Gravity thing all over again, but this time Mr. Schue decided to give whoever won a free to trip to Breadsticks.” Fuck, he loves Breadsticks, their steak tips are the shit. “I withdrew from the competition.” 

“Are you a moron? Breadsticks is the bomb!” Man, he and Quinn would have killed that competition! They could have done a little Coldplay, Yellow or maybe Fix You. Or maybe even that song she liked from Once, Falling Slowly. He could definitely have played that on the guitar. Oops, the guard is shooting him a suspicious look, “Why would you drive your car into it?” 

“What?” Tall, dark, and scary looks away again. 

“Sorry man, security was creeping on me.” Puck mutters a few choice words under his breath and Artie laughs. “So why’d you suicide yourself?” 

“I slept with Brittany.” He pulls the phone away from his ear and stares at it, there is no way that just happened. 

“Uh, what?” 

“I thought my first time would be special. I guess…I always imagined it with Tina, and I freaked out a little.” There’s silence on the other end. “I think I kind of hurt Brittany’s feelings too, I didn’t mean to. I just freaked.” 

Puck sighs, and looks over at the prison guard to make sure he isn’t watching him too closely. “Dude, I’m only going to say this once and if you repeat it, I’m apt to kill you, so listen up. Sex isn’t about love, alright? It’s about procreating the planet and having a little fun. Love is about feelings and shit, it’s about not caring about the physical crap and just want to be near somebody. You love Tina, but you wanted to fuck Brittany, and there isn’t anything wrong with that. Monogamy is totally over-rated. Just buy Brit some of those silly bands she’s obsessed with or something, she’ll forgive you.” 

He thinks he hears Artie choke back a sob, “That was beautiful. You really do have a heart.” 

“Shut it, Artie. I don’t want to have to paralyze the top half of your body too.” 

All the sudden the other half of the line goes silent. “I do have some really bad news for you though.” 

“What is it?” Finn glued himself to the fire alarm again, he just knows it. 

“Well, uh, Quinn won the duet competition.” How the fuck is this bad news? She and Mercedes must have teamed up and killed it. That’s his girl. “With Sam.” 

An hour later, four of the guards at Lima county juvenile detention center finally manage to remove Noah Puckerman from a very destroyed pay phone and the attending guard, who has been beaten to a pulp with his own night stick. The court moves to extend his sentence by several weeks.


End file.
